The theatre venue looks like it will be a good one. I really miss the old days of the Gandy Dancer, The Castle, Shaggy Horse, Graceland and the old Luv-a-fair (back when it was mostly gay and drag queens).

__________________
Heredity is a strong factor, even in architecture. Necessity first mothered invention. Now invention has little ones of her own, and they look just like grandma. - E.B.White
The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.- Frank Lloyd Wrighthttp://northvancouvermodern.blogspot.com/

Meeting for the relocation proposal is next week, staff state they would normally recommend the proposal due to a good history by the operator, but due to a very large opposition by the immediate residents they have decided to remain neutral in their recommendation to council.

Figure this one could go either way, I'd like to think it'll pass but with the current new council it's still to early to know how'll they vote. I would've been less worried with the old council.

Yesterday’s council vote to deny The Odyssey, one of Vancouver’s most important gay nightclubs, the right to relocate to 911 Denman St., was much closer than the 10-1 vote implies. (See the report at item 1 here.)

With the club’s lease at its Howe St. location due to terminate April 30, there is almost no time for the owners to find suitable new premises, although council directed staff to make every effort to do so. With the door closed on the new site on Denman, it could be the end of The Odyssey.

As several councillors noted, this was one of the most balanced and difficult debates this council has yet experienced, with passionate, legitimate and overwhelmingly respectful presentations on both sides.

During debate on the motion to reject, Councillor Suzanne Anton said she agreed with my analysis but arrived at an opposite conclusion, a sign of the difficult choice councillors faced. (She ultimately was the sole supporter of the proposed move.)

I concede that I started the hearing leaning to approval as well, but found myself increasingly swayed by the representations of Denman neighbours, who were overwhelmingly opposed. Supporters were overwhelmingly from outside the neighbourhood. Council heard more than 40 speakers, including a memorable juxtaposition of drag queen Joan E. (for the Odyssey) with a prim, tartan-clad Scots grannie (against).

It was a collision of two communities. On the one hand, council heard from The Odyssey’s patrons, the loyal supporters of a business that has operated successfully for more than 20 years with an exemplary record of good management and community relations. On the other hand, we heard from dozens of residents of the Denman community, including many gay men who themselves were Odyssey patrons, but didn’t believe the club was a good fit in the more residential setting of the 900-block of Denman.

Given the strong representations by gay men on both sides, the issue was more about the suitability of the location for a night club than it was about an institution in the gay community.

Here the Odyssey took a blow from the Vancouver Police Dept., which sang the praises of the club’s management, but predicted serious, continuing conflict with the community at the new location, on the second floor of a former movie theatre beside dense residential development. It was clear the Odyssey needed six-day a week operation with late, late hours to meet its patrons’ expectations, a recipe for continued friction with neighbours.

Why must The Odyssey move? The city owns the current location and is tearing the building down to create supported housing, a desperately-needed addition to community services. The fate of the site was sealed about a year ago as funding became available.

A simple night club approval? Not really. Just Google “gay village decline” and you’ll see that many cities are facing conflict over the future of their gay communities.

The number of gay nightclubs in our town is declining steadily. There are virtually no suitable locations available within the gay-friendly and safe atmosphere of the Davie Village. Even elsewhere in the downtown core, an area the Odyssey management believes is less suitable, there is a shortage of new club locations. Let’s hope this Odyssey is not over.

It's rather unfortunate NIMBY's won this round. According to a CBC article, the City will help the club find a new home. I've always wondered what was happening at the northwest corner of Burrard and Davie, for some reason it's now a community garden?

Quote:

classic vancouver attitude -
sure we want culture, but we want to have pure quiet form 11pm on....oh and lets put housing everywhere so that is is nowhere where one is even allowed to make noise in the whole downtown.

I've always wondered what was happening at the northwest corner of Burrard and Davie, for some reason it's now a community garden?

A tower proposal. The City was quietly working with the developer to incorporate a replacement building for The Centre (the glbt community centre), currently located at Bute and Davie. I think it fell through, or is on indefinite hold, due to the economy.

As far as I know there is no time limit, only until the readings from the site are in an acceptable range, could be less then that a few years could be longer. In fact you can remove all soil from the site and start building right away, the problem is again as far as I know the only place that can treat the soil offsite is in Alberta.

Standing backstage at the Odyssey nightclub on Howe Street, drag queen Raye Sunshine carefully applied makeup prior to making his final performance as one of the stars of the weekly Faux Girls show.

"Last night at our Frequeency show we were bawling our eyes out," said Sunshine, who alongside fellow drag queen Kamelle Toe, has raised funds for non-profit charities by performing at the Odyssey for eight years. "We've worked here for so long."

This week is the final curtain call for the popular nightclub, which opened more than two decades ago and closes its doors Sept. 5. The city and provincial government are building social housing on the Howe Street property. To mark the closing, the Odyssey held special final events all week.

Long time doorman Dale MacCalder, who's worked at the club for more than 10 years, calls the closure the end of an era.

"There's been a lot of reminiscing this week," said MacCalder. "It's been open for almost 25 years and some people literally grew up here. A lot of people who haven't been here for a long time have been dropping in to say goodbye. It's bittersweet."

The mood in the packed nightclub Wednesday night was indeed bittersweet and almost reminiscent of a wake, with hugs and tears shared between staff members, drag queens and party-goers. And while the hair on each drag queen was piled high, their heels towered even higher as each of the performers dressed in their show-stopping best for the final performances.

The glitter-filled evening was a who's who of the local drag elite, with performances by Joan-E, Carlotta Gurl, Willie Taylor, Iona Whipp and Ann Margaret look-alike Robyn Graves. Joan-E, aka Robert Kaiser, has raised money for charity alongside other performers at the Odyssey for more than 16 years at the weekly Feather Boa show. This Sunday is the final production of Feather Boa, the same night the Odyssey closes its doors.

Longtime gay community organizer Barb Snelgrove was at the Odyssey Wednesday night to pay her respects to staff and performers. Snelgrove, a grand marshal in last month's Pride Parade, said the Odyssey has been a part of her life for 20 years.

"I can't put it into words," said Snelgrove of the club's demise. "Even as a writer I can't find the words to describe what this closure means to me and the community."

Odyssey manager Will McGuire said the sense of loss has been real in final days leading up to the closure.

"When you think of a nightclub, you don't really think of it affecting people like that, but it really has," he said. "I can't imagine what that final night will be like and where we're going to put everybody."

McGuire is not rushing out to find a new job because the club's owners, Calverton Holdings Ltd., want to relocate the Odyssey. McGuire added a suitable location has been found, but couldn't provide any more information because the deal isn't final.